Did Brooklyn Decker Just Up the Ante in Her War on ‘Self-Care’?

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March 12, 2019

Brooklyn Decker Opens a New Window. had better watch out for self-care advocates. The model recently declared war on the trendy, catch-all term for wellness — and doubled down on her stance during a visit to the Us studios.

After Us Weekly’sChristina Garibaldi asked Decker if she made time for herself to go to the gym, the mom of two had an adamant answer. “Nope. Nope. No. I don’t. I don’t. And I actually feel like I probably angered a few people, but recently I said I think self care is a little overrated,” she told Us. (Actually, she said “self-care is kind of bulls–t” during a speech at a Girlboss rally in November.)

The Grace and Frankie actress elaborated for Us. “I mean, I think self-care fundamentally is so important,” she noted of the concept. “But I think that for so many women, in the way that self-care is being positioned these days, it’s being positioned as a box on a checklist that you need to check. And so as a mom and an entrepreneur and an actor and a wife and all of the things that I am in life, and all the things all women are in life, I feel like if you’re not checking that box, you feel like you’re failing yourself.”

Decker continued: “And so I came out against self-care because I was like, ‘I don’t want to feel like I’m failing myself now too.’ I don’t want this box that just stays unchecked. And so I’m like, ‘I believe in it, but I can table it for now.’”

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit alum, 31, is a cofounder of wardrobe organization and styling app Finery Opens a New Window. and also recently teamed up with Pure Leaf to promote their new line of herbal teas featuring hibiscus. “I can lean into the chaos of entrepreneurship and motherhood and table self-care for a little while,” she added.

Decker — who shares 3-year-old son Hank and 15-month-old daughter Stevie Opens a New Window. with husband Andy Roddick Opens a New Window. — was inspired to take her culturally contrarian stance after a doctor’s office visit. “I was fine with not going to the gym Opens a New Window. . And I was fine with not having that time. But then a doctor actually was like, ‘So what are you doing for self-care?’” she recalled. “And I said, ‘I hang out with my kids. That fills my cup. That’s my time off.’” The physician, however, didn’t buy it. “He said, ‘That’s not self-care. That’s still work. What are you doing for self-care?’ And I felt a little embarrassed, like that was something I wasn’t doing well. And I kind of laughed. And I was like, ‘Why can’t self-care be snuggling with your babe? Why can’t self-care be that?’”

While some like to meditate, do yoga, collect crystals, walk, deep-breathe or just light candles to relax and unwind, Decker — who has strong thoughts on body-shaming Opens a New Window. too — doesn’t think the notion need be so defined: “It’s whatever makes you happy,” she said.